The present invention relates to a bulk bag unloading station, and more particularly to means for assuring that bags are emptied in an efficient and safe manner.
A number of commodities, such as ingredients used in manufacturing, are packed and shipped in large semi-bulk bag containers. Once received at the manufacturing site the bag must be unloaded into storage or fed into the manufacturing process. Typically such bags are filled through the top and emptied out through the bottom of the bag. Such bags may have a bottom which is simply slit open to allow material to drop from it by gravity. The bag may also have a spout at the bottom that is first folded up inside the bottom and secured by a flap. Typically, an operator reaches in under the bag and unties or cuts a securing string, unfolds the spout, which might be 1 to 2 feet long so that the product could begin to flow out of the spout and into a container or pipeline or the like, underneath the spout. Many non-dusty and free-flowing products move readily out of these containers. However, there are other products, such as powders, powder granule mixtures, or fibrous materials which may not flow once the spout is opened by an operator. This is particularly true if the bags have been in transit for a long period of time, such as on a railroad car, truck or boat, or if a large number of such bags have been piled one on top of the other so that the material has been compressed. Finally, if the material in the bag is dusty and of a potentially toxic or environmentally harmful nature, there exists a dust control problem when the material starts to flow.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved bulk bag unloading station which will overcome the above-mentioned problems in prior art unloading stations of this type.